One Fall

CHAPTER 16

  The phone was ringing. Please don’t let it be Fran Wallace again.

  Joey rolled over and picked it up.

  “Hello?”

  “Hello, Joey? This is Duke.”

  Joey sat up, rubbed his eyes, and cleared his head. It wasn’t often that you got a phone call from Duke.

  “Yes Duke,” he said. Then he panicked. He looked over his shoulder, back at the bed, to confirm the source of his fear. It was real. Jade was sleeping on the other side of the bed. This was her room. It was morning and Joey was in Jade’s hotel room, awakened by the phone while sleeping next to her. How did Duke know he was here?

  “Listen Joey, have you got any plans for the two days off?”

  “No,” said Joey without bothering to think if he had any plans. His immediate instinct was to just do whatever Duke said. He told himself to act like there was nothing unusual about Duke finding him in Jade’s room.

  “Good. Joey, I’d like you to stay in Houston if you don’t mind. Fran’s got some publicity work for you tomorrow, and I’d like to meet with you today.”

  “Sure. What time?”

  “Let’s say noon, in my suite. I’m in 2200, just a straight shot up the elevator from where you are. We’ll have lunch and discuss some things.”

  Where you are, Duke had said, with no question or concern in his voice. Joey picked up the alarm clock and turned it violently to view its face. It was almost eleven.

  “Alright Duke. I’ll see you then.”

  “Wonderful.”

  Joey hung up and rolled out of the bed. Jade was still completely asleep. Neither the phone nor the conversation had disturbed her. Probably for the best. Maybe she didn’t need to know about that conversation yet. Who else knew he was here?

  The night before, Joey and Jade had left the coffee shop, returned together to the Hyatt, and walked to Jade’s room, very much intending to say good night. In the comfortable silence of the elevator, Joey had prepared closing comments for the evening, a neat turn of phrase or two to express to Jade one last time how much he appreciated her companionship tonight, how completely he understood the potential fallout backstage she faced for standing by the reckless Joey Mayhem.

  And when they came to the door of room 1412, Joey lifted his shoulders and barreled his chest in preparation for the words. But Jade didn’t behave properly. She immediately slid her keycard into the lock and opened the door without once turning back for a final goodnight. And as she fluidly opened the door and stepped inside Joey waited, thinking she’d turn back and accept a goodnight from the other side of the threshold. But instead she held the door open. With her back to him still she held the door open, as if they were roommates and there was no question that he was coming inside.

  So Joey followed her in. Her room, identical to his, began with a living room area and kitchenette, separated from the bedroom and bathroom by an open doorway.

  “Excuse me for one second while I go pee,” Jade said, turning to Joey for the first time since leaving the elevator.

  “Sure,” Joey said back.

  Jade went through the bedroom to the bathroom, and Joey took a seat on the sofa in the living room area. Over the silence of the room, Joey could hear Jade peeing. It was two in the morning. A mild coffee buzz and the excitement of the unknown kept Joey wired despite his exhaustion.

  The toilet flushed, Jade emerged, smiled at Joey, sat right next to him, and kicked her shoes off. Was he supposed to kiss her? Joey dove into his recently abandoned speech.

  “Jade, thank you again for standing by me tonight. I can’t tell you how much it means to me.”

  As he spoke, he could tell Jade was waiting for him to finish. She was looking right in his eyes and was much closer than she needed to be. The prepared speech had three more sentences, one about her friendship, one about her wisdom, one about her courage. Joey abandoned the lecture and kissed her.

  A minute later, Jade led him from the couch to the bedroom. And Joey was glad, euphoric, that he had laid out Goliath tonight. And fuck all of them backstage who wanted him to be sorry. Fuck anyone who thought he didn’t deserve his spot in the main event. And God help the next person who made some backhand remark about Jade’s history with Goliath and her ex-husband. Joey would beat the shit out of them.

  And now, with full daylight creeping under the curtains and the alarm clock confirming it was almost the afternoon, Joey wondered what he had done. Sex with Jade was one thing. One beautiful, wonderful thing that Joey hoped would happen again in the next city, and the next, and maybe lead to a house in the Hamptons and 2 kids who had no interest in becoming wrestlers. But Duke’s phone call, direct to Jade’s room, in the late morning, looking for Joey – that was another thing. The only way Duke could know Joey was here was if everyone knew.

  Joey walked out of the bedroom, through the entrance area, and to the door. It stood closed, locked to anyone who didn’t have a key card. On this side of the door was safety, and love, dare he say it, yes, love. Two people and a night full of real love expressed in its highest form. On the other side...

  Joey looked through the peephole. He was only in briefs, and if the entire world was out there waiting for him to come out and confirm what Duke already knew, that Joey had drunk from the company trough, the same one that Goliath had drunk from last year in a gossip frenzy that lit the wrestling world on fire, Joey would be dressed first. The tunnel vision of the peephole showed an empty hallway. Closed doors and generic hotel wall paper. How did Duke know he was here? There was no answer in the peephole.

  Joey turned the doorknob clockwise until he heard a click. He pulled on the door slowly. Light from the hallway appeared on the floor. He continued pulling. The same vision that was in the peephole began to take shape on the other side. No one would be out there. Joey swung the door past his body and was now standing in the doorway of Jade’s hotel room, wearing only his boxers, for anyone who cared to look.

  No one. At the foot of the door was a newspaper, USA Today, in full color, face up, centered like a doormat. Joey leaned down to pick it up.

  The flash came from the right. It flickered for a second in red-eye reducer before it exploded into the full and unmistakable flash of a camera, known well to professional wrestlers. Joey turned to the flash and saw a black leather jacket and blue jeans running down the hall. He recognized this run, and this backside. It was the same boy who had photographed him last night at the hospital. He was Duke’s informer.

  “Hey!” Joey said after the photographer in a half-yell, still conscious of his desire to be discreet.

  The boy opened a door to a stairwell and disappeared.

  Instinctively, Joey took two steps after him, then realized he was almost nude and stopped. Maybe it was sleepiness that kept him from rushing back to the room, maybe it was stupidity, but Joey stood still in the hallway for an instant too long and heard the sound. Click, click. The door to Jade’s room had closed itself behind him. He didn’t have a key.

  Joey breathed deeply through his nose. There was no need for panic. Every week, tens of millions of people saw him dancing around in underwear and boots, so there was no reason to worry about this one moment in the hall in his boxers.

  As if to show himself that he wasn’t upset at all, Joey walked slowly to the closed door and paused before knocking softly. Then he waited for what felt like an hour. He knocked again, three times, this time with more snap. After the third knock he counted silently in his head. One...two...three...four...five...he didn’t know why he was counting or when he was going to stop...six...seven...now he was getting nervous. No point in denying it. He really wanted to get back inside the room, out of this hallway, lest another photographer showed up and did whatever he did to inform Duke right away that Joey was bonking the company’s most popular woman.

  Click, click again, this time from down the hall. Someone was opening a door. Joey considered ru
nning for it. Maybe a quick exit to the stairwell. Maybe a quick exit out the window and a 14th-floor splat on the concrete. That would give the little shit something to photograph.

  Pride kept Joey locked in place. He had nothing to be ashamed of. This was just a funny situation. A cool person would find the humor and share it with everyone. Down the hall, the door finished opening and out stepped Lord Mayberry, wearing jeans and a T-shirt, carrying a suitcase. He took one step away from his room and then saw Joey. His immediate reaction was one of surprise, as if he’d stepped in on Joey’s private space.

  “Hey, what’s going on?” Joey said as he threw his chin up in the classic cool-guy hello.

  “Good morning Joey. Nothing’s going on. How are you?” Lord Mayberry’s real name was Matthew MacDowell. When he wasn’t in character, his ‘British’ accent gave way to a Canadian lilt.

  “Oh, fine, just...”

  “Are you locked out?”

  “Yeah. I came out for the paper and got distracted and now I’m stuck out here in my underwear.”

  “Well that’s quite a predicament, now isn’t it?” Mayberry was smiling but not laughing.

  “Yeah, I....yeah, this sucks,” Joey laughed nervously.

  “Well, good luck.”

  “Thanks,” Joey smiled as if Mayberry’s behavior was appropriate. As Mayberry walked past Joey and down the hall to the elevators, Joey wondered to himself why he didn’t just ask for help. Why didn’t he ask if he could go into Mayberry’s room and steal a bathrobe, or at least a towel?

  Click, flash, click. By the time Joey turned back toward the stairwell to see that the same kid had popped out and taken another picture it was too late. The kid was already headed back down the stairs.

  “Hey!” Joey yelled after him and started toward the stairwell before realizing he didn’t want to chase after some kid through the entire hotel while in his underwear.

  Another click from down the hall. Was there normally this much activity on the 14th floor?

  “Everything alright out here Joey?” It was Raptor, a cruiserweight from the undercard, leaning out from his doorway down the hall.

  Now was the time to ask for help, Joey thought.

  Click, click. Jesus Christ, was there some public gathering out here this morning?

  Deep Six and Safire appeared from behind the two doors opposite Jade’s room. Safire laughed.

  “What’s going on out here?” she said.

  Click. From the other side. Joey turned slowly to see who else was joining the party. It was Jade. Thank God.

  “Oh nothing,” Joey said to Safire, beyond the point of pretending this wasn’t a total nightmare. Joey went to Jade, who looked at him with a mix of pity and surprise. With Raptor, Deep Six, and Safire all watching, Joey went into Jade’s room and closed the door behind him.

  “Shit,” he said as he dropped onto the sofa.

  Jade stood where she was, her eyes still adjusting to being awake.

  “What was that all about?” she said.

  “That was about me making an ass of myself and probably you too.”

  Jade took the middle seat of the sofa and sat cross-legged, facing Joey. Joey told her the story, starting with him reaching for the newspaper, including the kid with the camera and all the wrestlers who’d seen him come back here in his underwear.

  “Maybe it’s for the best,” she said.

  A memory of Joey’s mother appeared in his head. She was comforting him after a neighbor kid had punched his lights out.

  “How could that be for the best? I got locked out in my underwear, Mayberry didn’t offer to help me, Safire laughed at me, and some kid took pictures of the whole thing.”

  “Well, now we don’t have to worry about keeping last night a secret.” Jade’s voice was quiet and morose. She didn’t believe a word of her own optimism.

  “Actually, somehow, the secret got out even before my little display.”

  “What do you mean?”

  “Duke called this morning. He called here. I answered, which was fine because he was looking for me anyway. But somehow he already knew I was here.”

  Jade turned to face forward on the couch, then leaned back against the cushion. She took a breath in an obvious effort to contain herself. “Someone up here must have spied on us and reported to him. Why would anyone do that?” she said.

  “I was actually thinking it was that kid with the camera.”

  Jade’s eyes brightened. “I forgot about that kid,” she said.

  “You almost sound excited that it might be him,” said Joey.

  “Yes, I am. I’d much rather it be some Internet site than someone in the company spying on me and reporting to the boss. What did Duke say? ”

  “He wants me to stay in Houston and meet with him for lunch at noon.”

  “Well, aren’t you the big shot?”

  Joey shook his head. It was true. He was the big shot. Only the major players got private meetings with Duke. He was the big shot who would be all over the Internet looking like a dork in his skivvies.

  “What are your plans for today?” Joey asked.

  “I was going to drive to Dallas to hang with my sister tonight and tomorrow.”

  “Was going to? Does that mean you could change your plans?”

  Jade smiled.

  “Why don’t you stay in Houston with me? Hell, it’s not like there’s any reason to be discrete.”

  “Joey, are you sure you want to do this? Maybe we should see what’s on the Internet before--”

  “Nonsense. You should stay with me in Houston and travel with me to Denver. To hell with the Internet clowns.”

  Jade sat still for a moment. “If you’re sure,” she said.

  “I’m sure.”

  “You should get dressed. It’s eleven thirty.”

  Joey kissed her before standing up. “I’m in room 809. You should check out of here and move your stuff in there. I’ll head back there after I’m done with Duke.”

  “Okay,” said Jade.

  Joey felt a buzz in his chest as he left the room. He realized that, for the first time since high school, he had a girlfriend.